This invention relates to a device for feeding coins upwardly (hereinafter referred to as a "coin lifting device", and more particularly to a coin lifting device in which a coin (including a token) is held by the periphery thereof by a spiral groove and lifted in a horizontal posture.
As described in Japanese Utility Model Publ. No. Sho 61-17925, there are known coin lifting devices which comprise a hopper with a rotating disk disposed at an angle in a bucket, and a sleeve-shaped chute connected to an outlet port of the hopper. Coins fed one by one from the hopper are pushed into the chute, thereby to push up coins in a row in the chute one by one. Japanese Patent Appln. Early Laid-open Publ. No. Sho 61-288288 also discloses a coin lifting device which comprises a rotating body with a spiral ridge formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and a vertical cylindrical housing covering the rotating body. In this device, a coin insertion slot is formed in a lower part of the cylindrical housing and coins on edge enter a narrow space defined by the spiral ridge. Upon rotation of the rotating body within the cylindrical housing, the coins held vertical in the space defined by the spiral ridge are lifted by the spiral ridge.
In the first-mentioned conventional coin lifting device, the upper part of the chute is vertical but the lower part is inclined to lie in the same plane as the rotating disk of the hopper. In this way, in order to erect the coins gradually within the chute, the chute is curved at its lower part to form a general J-shape. This inevitably requires a large installation space for the chute. Therefore, a conventional coin lifting device of this type inevitably is large in size.
On the other hand, in the second-mentioned conventional coin lifting device, coins are lifted on edge. Therefore, it is practically impossible to lift a large number of coins per unit time and the speed of discharging coins is low.